How would you make a family tree for Across Five Aprils?Our class just finished reading Across Five Aprils. We have to make a family tree for...

The book does not include a family tree as such; that is something you will have to put together yourself.  I am assuming that your assignment is to make a family tree for the Creighton family, and to do this you would have to start with a list including the names of each member of the family, and organize them by generation.

At the top of your family tree, you would have Matthew and Ellen Creighton.  Matthew and Ellen each have at least one sibling, who can be put on the same line with them, since they belong to the same generation.  Matthew's sibling gave birth to Eb Carron, who would be on the second line of the tree with the Creighton children, the next generation.  In like manner, Ellen's sister had a son, Wilse Graham.  Wilse would belong on the same line as Eb Carron and the Creighton children as well.

Matthew and Ellen Creighton have a total of nine children, four of whom are dead and buried on Walnut Hill at the beginning of the story.  All of these children, living and dead, would appear on the same line as Eb and Wilse on the family tree.  Although their birth order is not specifically stated, it appears that either John or Mary is the oldest Creighton child.  Mary, a beautiful young lady, was killed two years back in a tragic accident.  John, the eldest son, is married to Nancy, whose name would be placed next to his on the family tree.  Below them would be their two children, a boy and a girl, the only ones belonging to the next generation in the family.

Bill Creighton would probably come next after John and Mary, followed by Tom, who, like his cousin Eb, is eighteen when the story begins.  Following Tom would be Jenny, who is born four years after Tom, and when she marries Shadrach Yale, his name would be added next to hers.  Following Jenny, I believe, are three little boys, all of whom died of polio the year Jethro was born.  One of the boys' names is Nate, the others, I don't think, are given.  Finally, there is Jethro himself, the youngest of the Creighton children, who is nine when the story begins.

How long did Shakespeare live?

I do not mean to be contradictory, but there are many modern scholars (S. Greenblatt, R.A. Cohen, etc.) who believe that Shakespeare was really more middle-aged, as he would have been if he were a playwright of today. Because it is based on an AVERAGE, the measurement for determining Elizabethan (or Jacobean) lifespans is a little skewed when it comes to determining whether 52 years was "old." The evidence actually suggests that 52 was not old for men of this period of time.

Yes, the AVERAGE age has been calculated to be in the mid-30's, but, remember that an average is taken from the entire pool of the population, which included a high level of mortality at an early age. The *average* was relatively short due to disease, dangerous times, etc. Consider that most children did not survive to adulthood; many young men were killed in dangerous occupations; the plague(s) would wipe out huge portions of the population.

But, the longer men and women survived these "unnatural" causes of death, the longer they lived -- those who survived would live to ages comparable to modern life-spans.

Shakespeare survived many plagues, he survived the rough streets of Southwark, he survived his long "commutes" to Stratford. And there is no conclusive evidence that he could not have easily survived another 20 years. He was considered middle-aged by even his contemporaries.

If you need some concrete references, let me know.

I want to know about literary devices of "The Kitten" by Richard Wright.

The scene where Richard kills the kitten serves mostly to introduce the conflict between characters, Richard and his father. Trying to sleep so he can rest up for his job as a night porter, his father yells to the boys to kill the noisy kitten. This, of course, is not taken to be literally but Richard's act of defiance is precisely in this act of failing or being unwilling to interpret his father's words. He kills the kitten.

The situation is really amoral, neither good nor bad in itself because on the one hand Richard followed his father's command, but on the other hand he killed. The scene illustrates the conflict between characters in power and Richard himself, a tension that will follow him throughout the narrative. The death of the kitten also symbolizes the realm of the unspoken and the failure to look for deeper meaning.

How can the plot and structure of the story be analyzed in terms of the main character?This question defintely confused me. I haven't the slightest...

The main character would be Mrs. Hale.  We see everything through her eyes.  At the beginning of the story, she is dragged from her kitchen, and we are informed of how frustrating it is to her to leave things unfinished.  This "unfinished" theme becomes part of the evidence that proves that Minnie killed her husband.  We see through Mrs. Hale's eyes how her kitchen is messy, how her stitches are crooked in her quilting, and how the bird cage is empty. 

Along with Mrs. Hale is the sheriff's wife, Mrs. Peters.  Although Mrs. Peters wants to follow the law, like her husband does, she also feels what Mrs. Hale feels about what Minnie's husband has done to her over the years of their marriage.  The story is built around Mrs. Hale's observations and how she convinces Mrs. Peters that they should keep the evidence to themselves. They even do away with the evidence so that the men can't prove Minnie killed her husband. 

Without Mrs. Hale, we never would have noticed things like uneven stitching or messy kitchens or empty birdcages.  The men would never have noticed them as evidence, either.  However, Mrs Hale provides us with such insight so that we can find the killer as easily as she did.  Yet, with her compassion for Minnie, and who she's become in her misery, we agree with the women's decision to keep the information from the men and let Minnie walk free.

Why does Lord of the Flies begin with making friends and end in death and violence?What do you think are the main reasons for this change and what...

In the second link it explains how thoughts were changed after WWII.  Before the violence of the war, most believed in the goodness of people and the world.  However, after the war, Golding had a completely different viewpoint.  The destruction and violence brought on by the war gave us a new concept:

"The prevailing concept of man and society included two basic viewpoints: man was essentially good and society was inherently evil."

This explains your question quite well.  In the beginning, the boys all got to know one another and after establishing some rules and a leader, things were going pretty well.  In the beginning, each boy showed good traits.  Ralph led to the best interest of everyone, Piggy was helpful with his scientific knowledge, and Simon was always willing to help out wherever he could. Yet, they all fell victim to the evils of mankind.  Jack and Roger represented the evil (in different ways). Their tribe evolved into a violent machine. It ended up killing Simon and Piggy.  It would have killed Ralph had they had enough time.  So Golding is showing that although man (each boy individually) has the capacity to be good, society (their tribe) was inherently evil. We see this today in mobs of people.  Individually, people are good.  However, once a big group gets together with a common goal, violence can occur and things can go horribly wrong.

What do you think makes one liquid more dense than another?I'm trying to find a liquid that I havent yet identified (color green) with a density of...

Density is defined as mass per unit volume (D=m/v). The standard against which liquid densities are compared is of course water, with a density of about 1 g/ml.  Something more dense than water has more of its molecules (mass) packed into a given space (volume); something less dense is just the opposite, having a lesser number of molecules in a given space.  Since by experiment, you've got an unknown liquid with a density 1.0028 g/ml, round the number to 1.003 and compare with known values in your textbook.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, what "trick" does Atticus teach Scout about getting along with people?

Atticus taught her that you never really know a person until you "climb into their skin" and walk around in it.  In other words, you've got to climb into their shoes and see things from their perspective.  By teaching her how to understand the views of others, Atticus is preparing her to understand life in a unique and mature way.

This is particularly important considering the drama that will begin to unfold in the town as Tom Robinson's trial takes place.  People who Scout thought were good will go "stark-raving mad" when the trial begins, because it involves race at the core of the subject matter. 

Sterotypically, the South has always had race problems.  While it is true that a lot of documented racial persecution and strife has taken place in the Southern United States, it is also true that all areas experience some sort of racial tubulance from time to time.  This is important to note as one reads the story, so as to avoid forming a negative opinion of the South as a whole.  Atticus even tries to explain that the people are genuinely good, but when race becomes an issue, their perspective changes nearly 100%. 

In Scene II of "Hamlet", Claudius takes two actions to show he is an able administrator. What are they?

Yes,  he does. They're to do with the Norweigans, who there have been political problems with since before Claudius was on the throne. Here's what Claudius says

Now follows, that you know, young Fortinbras,
Holding a weak supposal of our worth,
Or thinking by our late dear brother's death
Our state to be disjoint and out of frame,
Colleagued with this dream of his advantage,
He hath not fail'd to pester us with message,
Importing the surrender of those lands
Lost by his father, with all bonds of law,
To our most valiant brother. So much for him.
Now for ourself, and for this time of meeting.
Thus much the business is: we have here writ
To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras—
Who, impotent and bed-rid, scarcely hears
Of this his nephew's purpose—to suppress
His further gait herein, in that the levies,
The lists, and full proportions, are all made
Out of his subject; and we here dispatch
You, good Cornelius, and you, Voltimand,
For bearers of this greeting to old Norway,
Giving to you no further personal power
To business with the King, more than the scope
Of these dilated articles allow.
Farewell, and let your haste commend your duty.

Young Fortinbras thinks Denmark is weak, after Old Hamlet's death. He's been pestering Denmark with messages, and so Claudius has written to his uncle, Old Norway, to tell him to tell his young nephew to back off. There's the first decision Claudius makes - and it is a strong statement.

Claudius then moves neatly from political to private. Laertes wants to return to France, as he only came to Denmark for the coronation. Polonius gives his consent, and then Claudius gives his:

Take thy fair hour, Laertes. Time be thine,
And thy best graces spend it at thy will!

Claudius may be a villain. But he knows how to smoothly administrate the Danish court.

What two views of manhood are presented in Act 1 of Macbeth?

Macbeth is an example of one of the views of manhood in Act I, he is a courageous soldier who has distinguished himself on the battlefield, confronting the enemies of the King with great bravery.  He is rewarded by the Duncan for his devotion, loyalty and willingness to fight for King and country.

Here manhood is defined by bravery in battle, fearlessness when facing a fierce enemy, a willingness to die for one's beliefs.  All these characteristics describe Macbeth in the early acts of the play. 

In Act I, Scene IV, King Duncan expresses his gratitude to Macbeth. The King desires to reward Macbeth telling him that he cannot ever really repay him for what he has done on the battlefield.  Duncan also tells him that his son Malcolm has been elevated to Prince of Cumberland, and now he wishes to celebrate Macbeth.

Duncan provides a wonderful example of how a just and right king should behave.  He is grateful, gracious and not intimidated by the idea of rewarding those who deserve praise.  Duncan is secure in his reign as king, he does not have to protect his position by keeping others down, below him.  Duncan exemplifies what manhood is in a true leader.  A true leader acknowledges the sacrifice and service of others.  He respects this service, rewards it and allows the individual to ascend in the ranks.

Who is Dennis in The Pigman?

Dennis Kobin is a friend of John and Lorraine.  He is usually paired with Norton Kelly, and the two are described as "demented", and are always causing trouble.  Of the pair, Dennis is the follower, and is nowhere near as malicious and conniving as the more assertive Norton.  John says that Dennis is "not very bright", and notes that "he talks so slowly some people think he has brain damage".  Dennis does hold the record for the being able to engage a stranger in the longest conversation ever in a "phone marathon" game that the four teens have created.  The object of the game is to call a number at random and see how long one can keep the person who answers on the line.  Dennis once called a lonely old woman and made up a story about needing advice about how to treat a skin disease which he had as a result of having had his nose bitten off by a rat when he was a baby.  He was able to keep the woman on the phone for well over two hours.

Dennis's father works long hours and drinks a lot.  When his mother is not home, the group sometimes gathers at his house to play the phone marathon game (Chapter 3).  When John and Lorraine decide to throw a party at the Pigman's house, they invite Dennis, but caution him not to tell Norton because they know that Norton will take the opportunity to steal from the Pigman, and otherwise cause trouble.  Dennis, however, can be counted on to be discreet and to follow instructions.  Because John has asked him to, Dennis steals some alcohol to bring to the party from his father's whiskey cabinet, and supplies some soda mixers and glasses from his house as well (Chapter 13).

Would you describe the narrator as an antihero? What details early in the story that show the narrator’s more sensitive side and thus help to...

Yes. The narrator is close-minded, fearful, judgmental, prejudiced, possessive, and unfriendly, not to mention a substance abuser; these are not generally attributes viewed as heroic. That said, the narrator does have positive qualities, and most of his negative characteristics seem to come from a fear of being abandoned/alone and his frustration re: his inability to express himself. For instance, he obviously loves his wife. His seemingly callous reaction to her suicide attempt covers up his deep-seated fear of losing her. He seems to have based his whole life around her; he doesn't have friends, and he is so focused on her that he tells us much more about her past than his own. He is jealous of her first husband, and also of the blind man; the blind man has an intimate relationship with his wife and can communicate with her more more easily than the narrator can.

The narrator gets stoned and drunk. This inebriation allows him to let down some of his defenses so that he can help the blind man experience the cathedral; the wonderment that he feels seems to hint at an underlying urge to understand the world and to learn to communicate with and connect to other people. The cathedral itself (the most important symbol in the story) has various meanings. One of the things it represents is grace/redemption, and that's just what the narrator seems to want, whether he will admit it or not. All of these small details hint that he is more sensitive and loving than he may first appear.

What is the definition of "accounting?"

American Accounting Association defines accounting as:

The process of identifying, measuring and communicating information to permit judgment and decision by users of accounts.

It is a tool for recording, reporting and evaluating, in monetary terms, the transactions, events and situations that effect an enterprise.

Accounting function consists of following five type of activities:

1. Collection and recording of data.


2. Classification of data


3. Processing of data including calculating and summarising


4. Maintenance or storage of results


5. Reporting of results

Accounting serves many purposes. It is broadly divided in three types according to the purpose served by it. These three types of accounting are:

1. Basic accounting


2. Management Accounting


3. External Accounting

Basic accounting, also called Bookkeeping, represents the earliest application of accounting. It serves the purpose of facilitating the operating activities of an enterprise involving financial transactions. For example to determine the money to be paid to suppliers, or to be collected from customers.

The information available from the basic accounting can be further analysed and presented to management of a firm to help them in their planning and controlling functions. This is the function served by management accounting.

With advent of large corporation the ownership of companies got separated from management, and a need arose for providing information on activities and performance of companies to shareholder and other stakeholders outside the company, not involved in direct operation or management of company. External accounting meets the need for this type of external accounting.

How does Jane Austen present the themes of love and marriage in Pride and Prejudice?

For Jane Austen love was absolutely necessary for a good marriage.  However, in English society at the time, which is depicted in the novel, love is not the greatest consideration for marriage.  The ideal goal for marriage is to marry someone financially capable of supporting you. Love is secondary. Austen mocks this practice in the book.

For example, Mrs. Bennett is constantly reminding her daughters about the rule that since there is no male heir among her children, that their home will pass out of their family to the next male in the family, Mr. Collins.  The Bennetts will be homeless when Mr. Bennett dies. So it is imperative that the girls, especially Jane and Lizzy, find husbands who can provide them with a home and possibly their mother and sisters as well.

Marriage is considered an arrangement between parties who occupy the same social level.  Love is certainly a necessary consideration, but not required for a good match.  For example, Darcy has been promised to Lady Catherine Debourgh's daughter since birth. 

Even though he does not love her, he is supposed to marry her.  Darcy is an exception, since he does fall in love with Lizzy, but is reluctant, at first to court her because he believes that her family is socially inferior.  Darcy and Lizzy's marriage is an example of both love and financial security coming together.  She and Jane both marry men who not only love them but can support them well.

In the story's final sentence, what does Sammy mean when he says, "I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter"?

Sammy, having quit his job on a whim to impress the girls who have come into the store improperly dressed, stands outside now, realizing that he has just made his life a lot harder.  He has no job.  If he does not want to follow the rules of the game, if he chooses to go his own way and opposes the standards, the rules that govern society, he will find himself on the outside all the time.

Sammy has learned that choices have consequences.  Some choices need to be made more carefully, with greater consideration for the possible outcomes. 

Sammy is young and immature, he does not understand that there are times that an individual has to keep his opinions to himself in an effort to follow the rules that govern an environment.  He will learn that there is a time and place for his opinions and beliefs, but that expressing them all the time without discretion will result in him being fired, excluded or ostracized from polite society.

Sammy will learn as he grows and matures that sometimes it is better to keep your opinion to yourself.  You can think anything you want, just be careful what you say out loud.   

What is the main theme in sonnet 75 by Edmund Spenser?what is the main theme in sonnet 75 by Edmund Spenser

When he writes her name on the sand, her name is washed away by the waves. He tries again and again but his all attempts when the tide is in will be washed. The lover here emphasize that allegorically;

The tide represents "the time" and

The sand of seashore represents his "memories"

The word "tide" refers to the word "time" also in means of written and "sand" also refers to his memories because memory is a reflection of the past and it has a particular shape in minds to indicate particular moments and events which we experienced. but this shape in time becomes uncertain as the time passed memory skips over some important or trivial details. So everthing can be forgetton, ,n memory there can be nothing everlasting JUST LİKE HER NAME ON THE SAND OF SEASHORE..

the poet has a great longing to immortalize her name. But he deduces that nature wants to explain that love is temporary. Because when he wrote her name the tide washes it away. Then the lady speaks that his effort is in vain he can not change the intrinsic nature of the mortality. She believes every mortal thing will be perished. She is offended by his attempt to immortalize her.But the lover believes when the love becomes immortal her name will be written in heaven.

How does Jack handle those who disobey his wishes?in chapter ten

Jack handles those who disobey him by force and by simply beating them. Jack is symbolic of the brutal dictator who rules his subjects with force and the threat of force. Jack holds "councils" naked to the waist with his face "painted." Jack also handles difficult situations by ignoring them, or by easily dismissing them. His handling of Simon's death, for example. Overall, Jack is a leader of force, emotion, and irrational actions. His methods of control reflect all this.

Is "Hamlet" primarily a tragedy of revenge?

On the surface, it is a tale about revenge, that ends in devastating tragedy for most of its main characters.  Think of all the people that died:  Polonius, Ophelia, Claudius, Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and finally Hamlet.  That sure is a lot of death.  And because Hamlet's main purpose in the play is to enact revenge, it does fit under the category of revenge.

However, there are many underlying layers, all connected to Hamlet and his inability to act.  The entire play consists of him moping about, whining, hesitating, pondering life and death, making excuses--all when he could have enacted revenge from the very first suspicion of Claudius.  So, the play is more a commentary on inaction, on procrastination, on how "the mind is its own beautiful prisoner", trapping people in analysis and logic instead of determination and action.  Hamlet overthinks, overanalyzes, overponders, oversteps bouds of decency in order to more fully ponder the situation, and all of this is what really leads to the tragedy, not his pursuit of revenge.  It is useful to also consider those elements as you decide how to think about and label the play.

To what extent is 'All My Sons' a Classical Greek Tragedy, and are there elements of modern tragedy in it?

"All My Sons" falls into the category for Classical Greek Tragedy because the tragic hero, Joe Keller suffers from hubris, or the sin of too much pride, and because of this sin, he makes a tragic mistake which ends up causing his death. Joe's behavior is responsible for his tragic circumstances, it is not by accident that he ends up committing suicide. 

There is a relationship between Joe Keller's fate and his free will, he chose to send the faulty parts to the military, thereby putting his fate or destiny in jeopardy by making such a tragic decision.  And, in Classical Greek Tragedy, the tragic hero's actual strength becomes the means of his undoing. 

There are four specific elements that must be present:

"1. Shame, 2. Suffering, 3. Knowledge,

4. Affirmation of what is right." (See link below for more details)

Or in Joe Keller's case, his ability to support his family, his ability to build his business, work his way up, this very aspect of his life, what he said drove him to make the decision to send the faulty parts, because he was afraid to not meet the contracts deadline, is what leads to his ultimate end.  

One important difference between Classical Greek Tragedy which usually involves a tragic hero who is of noble birth and Modern Tragedy is that the latter involves ordinary people in tragic circumstances.

Also, according to Modern Tragedy, once the tragic hero realizes that he has made a terrible mistake, there is no undoing it, you can't take it back, as much as he may want to retrieve the mistake, it is done.  Ultimately in the Modern Tragedy, the protagonist takes responsibility for his actions and ends up suffering or dying.   And, those around him suffer permanent emotional damage, thereby changing their lives forever.

What is the lesson Scrooge learns in Stave 4 that he had not learned before?

In Stave 4, Scrooge learns the truth about the value of his life as it applies to other people.  What he comes to see through the lessons of the final spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, is that when the final tally is taken, his life, in the eyes of his fellow man, will be worth nothing.  He has not left a lasting legacy; there will be no one to mourn his passing.  His life will be reduced to a group of haggling thieves robbing him and stealing his bed clothes, with no respect for his dead body.

"'What do you call this?' said Joe. 'Bed-curtains?'    'Ah.' returned the woman, laughing and leaning forward on her crossed arms. 'Bed-curtains!'    'You don't mean to say you took them down, rings and all, with him lying there?' said Joe.   'Yes I do,' replied the woman. 'Why not?'    'You were born to make your fortune,' said Joe, 'and you'll certainly do it.'" (Dickens) 

Scrooge is finally able to see clearly how to measure the life of a man, and it has nothing to do with money.  The true value of a man lies in how he has walked among his fellow men, the lives he has touched, made better for having known him.  At the moment that Scrooge sees his own headstone, cold, bare and devoid of any sentiment, he is humbled, he is frightened, and he is determined to change.

Also, by this point in the story, he has come to understand  the coldness of his own heart, and how punishing it has hurt not only others but also himself.  He has rejected all attempts by Fred, his nephew, to be a family.  He has mistreated Bob Cratchit, his lowly clerk who is rich compared to Scrooge in terms of love and family. 

Mr. Scrooge is transformed in this Stave. He wakes up from his dream to discover that he will be given another chance at life.

"In his agony, he caught the spectral hand. It sought to free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and detained it. The Spirit, stronger yet, repulsed him. Holding up his hands in a last prayer to have his fate reversed, he saw an alteration in the Phantom's hood and dress. It shrunk, collapsed, and dwindled down into a bedpost." (Dickens)

 "'I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me." (Dickens) 

In "A Rose for Emily" what are two examples of Faulkner clearly marking a change in time?

The story is told in the form of a flashback. Miss Emily has died at the beginning of the story, but to understand what happens after her death, we have to go back into her past. We also have to understand the social/historical changes that Faulkner uses. First, we have the description of Miss Emily confronting the townsmen who have come to demand her taxes. With our modern concept of property taxes, it would never occur to any of us to question the idea that she must pat what is owed to the county in order to keep her land. But, to understand her refusal, we have to understand first the role of the Southern gentleman. When Colonel Sartoris tells her after the death of her father that she will owe no taxes, he is "taking care" of this helpless orphaned young woman. Neither he nor anyone else of his generation would question the fact that Miss Emily is to be cared for in this way. Of course, no one lives forever, nor did the idea of one man being powerful enough to make such a decree. As far as she was concerned, the Colonel's word was his bond; therefore, she need never concern herself with taxes. In Miss Emily's world, when a gentleman gave his word it was not cancelled by something as mundane as his death.

Another example of time changing in the story revolves around Miss Emily and her "china painting" classes. There were very few occupations that a "lady" of her social standing could participate in and still retain the status of a lady according to the social rules of the time. Faulkner points out that all of the young ladies of a certain period were sent to Miss Emily to learn this delicate art because that is what refined young women did, but as time passed, the art was not one that modern women found pleasure or interest in. As her students drifted away, Miss Emily remained, caught in the time capsule of her youth and bound by the social rules that she was raised with.

Then, we have the man-servant. For years he not only cared for Miss Emily's home, but he also kept her secret. There was no way that he didn't know about Homer's rotting corpse in the bedroom at the top of the stairs. But, because his obligation, his loyalty was to Miss Emily, he would never reveal what he knew. That kind of loyalty from a paid servant, one who was most likely the child of slave parents is not one that we understand today. But it was his loyalty that kept her secret. When she died, he continued with this loyalty by opening the front door and walking out the back, never to be seen again.

You see, the time that Faulkner marks in this story is more than time measured in years, weeks, or days. It is the marking of change measured by time.

What does Gatsby propose that offends Nick in chapter 5?

Gatsby asked Nick if he wanted to come work for him, which offended Nick because Gatsby was offering out of concern for Nick's well being.  In other words, because Nick had a small house and didn't have the lavish lifestyle that he enjoyed, Gatsby felt Nick was "in need" of his help.

When Gatsby and Daisy met, it was awkward at first.  Gatsby ordered his servants to set up tea with the finest wares, and even brought in flowers by the garden-full to decorate Nick's cottage.  Everything Gatsby did said that Nick's place wasn't "good enough", but this was because Gatsby has always thought and continues to think the way to Daisy's heart is through superficial monetary gain and material possession.  Unfortunately, Daisy only serves to perpetuate this opinion, as she literalyl cries when she sees Gatsby's well-folded shirts.

What influences did Judaism, Christianity, Renaissance, and Reformation have on the rise of Democratic ideas?

One central ideal common to all of the above is that of personal responsibility to the society one lives in.  Personal duty to your society, that duty being to act in ways which positively impact your society, goes hand in hand with the concepts of personal liberty.

Judaism emphasized the obligation of moral behavior toward your neighbors, and Christianity added more emphasis on personal freeedom and responsibility toward individuals as well as society as a whole.  The Rennaissance saw the rise of political philosophies again emphasizing duty to one's society and culture, and individual morality.  The Reformation brought even more emphasis on the individual's personal freedom and responsibilities as the two sides of a societal coin.

Think of the priveleges you have as an independant, free person in a free society.  The other side of that coin is the responsibility to use that freedom and those priveleges for the good of your neighbor as well as yourself.  That is the democratic principle in a nutshell, and also the central thrust of the philosphies that have come down to us through the four influences you mention.

How successful do you feel Mark Twain is in making heavy use of dialect in Huckleberry Finn?List advantages and diadvantages for an author deciding...

Yes, Twain is successful at rendering the Southern dialect. The beauty of Twain's use in dialogue is that he uses just enough to make his writing authentic, but not so much as to confuse the reader. Other novels by authors dealing with the South or other geographic regions sometimes over-utilize the device of dialect, thereby alienating readers at large.

Twain, however, masterfully crafts the language in such a way that the dialect is a positive supplement rather than a detractor. Stories like Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer would feel empty and lifeless without the use of appropriate dialect.

By the end of the struggle with the large fish, how has the old man come to think of the fish?what are two quotes from the novel that supports your...

In Old Man and the Sea, Santiago respects the fish throughout their battle, refers to him as his brother, and behaves respectfully to him in his thoughts and actions. At one point, the old man "was sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him." He goes on to speculate: "How many people will he feed…. But are they worthy to eat him? No, of course not. There is no one worthy of eating him from the manner of his behavior and his great dignity." Though his determination to kill the fish never wavers, he has more respect for his dignity and courage than he has for those the fish will feed.

At the end, when half the fish is gone, Santiago speaks to the fish that remains: "Fish that you were. I am sorry that I went too far out. I ruined us both." His remorse at having risked the fish to the sharks is additionally painful because he had such respect for the fish, and also because he feels that this was, in many ways, his last chance. However, he maintains his optimism till the end, and makes a vow to his fish that he will fight the sharks "until I die."

Compare the recreation and social activities of the lower castes with those of the upper caste in the book "Brave New World".

Members of the upper castes have a little more freedom in terms of games that they can play and pastimes they can indulge in. The lower castes are trained to hate books and flowers because a love of nature and the knowledge gleaned from books could be detrimental to social stability and the individual's rank. The controllers of BNW celebrate games that encourage promiscuity and sexual exploration or any game that uses many resources to play it. By employing such a game it improves the economy of the BNW and is good for social stability.

In Macbeth, in what ways does Macbeth fit the description of a tragic hero? What major factors contibute to Macbeth's downfall? So I thought of...

Macbeth is a tragic hero because his character "fits" the characteristics of a tragic hero as Shakespeare developed the model. Therefore, to examine Macbeth as a tragic hero, it is necessary to review the idea of the tragic hero. In Shakespeare's tragedies, the tragic hero is a man who holds a high place in society, one who is exemplary and well respected. From this "high place," he falls by making decisions that result in his own destruction.

The tragedy of his destruction lies in his "fatal flaw," a flaw in his own character that brings him down. In other words, his tragedy is that he destroys himself. Another element of his tragedy is that he is not aware of his fatal flaw until it is too late to save himself. The tragic hero, however, doesn't give up easily. He fights against his destruction, trying to reverse his downfall.

Finally, in order to emphasize the tragedy of a formerly good man's destruction, Shakespeare gives us a glimpse of the hero as he once was. This occurs at the conclusion of the play. In your essay examining Macbeth, go to the play and you will find that he exemplifies all of Shakespeare's characteristics of a tragic hero. In fact, some statement of that observation could serve as a good thesis for your essay. Good luck!

Blood plays a role in Macbeth. What are three examples and what do they suggest?

Blood plays a very significant role. It is one of the play's major motifs, appearing throughout the play any number of times. One dramatic appearance of the blood motif occurs shortly before Macbeth enters Duncan's chambers to murder him. He sees a daggar floating in the air before him. As Macbeth watches, horrified, blood appears on the dagger. Macbeth's "fatal vision" can be interpreted to symbolize his guilt for the action he is about to take. It also serves to foreshadow the terrible fate that will befall King Duncan momentarily.

After Duncan's murder, as Macbeth's deep and genuine guilt sets in, he speaks figuratively of the blood on his hands. Employing literary hyperbole, Shakespeare has his hero explain that there is so much blood on Macbeth's hands that if he were to thrust one of them into the ocean, there would be enough blood to turn the ocean read. Through this figurative language, the depth of Macbeth's guilt is made clear.

Finally, Shakespeare returns to the "blood on my hands" motif in the play's conclusion when Lady Macbeth sleepwalks through the castle, reliving the murders of Duncan and Banquo. In her disturbed emotional state, she sees actual blood on her hands and attempts to "wash it away" by rubbing her hands continually. Again, hyperbole is employed. Lady Macbeth says there is so much blood that all the perfumes in Arabia could not take away the smell of blood on her hands.

In these three passages, Shakespeare employs blood to emphasize the guilt in his two characters. Macbeth feels guilt immediately; his wife, although cold and calculating at first, is eventually consumed by her own.

Re-tell about finding the coffin from Doodles point of view in "The Scarlet Ibis".

This is from Doodle's point of view, and it's similar to the style of writing that Hurst used.

My brother could be so nice to me.  When he took me out to Old Woman Swamp for the first time, I was so amazed at its beauty.  He would gather wild flowers for us and then we would make necklaces and crowns out of them.  The days that he took me out there, he was a good big brother.  However, there were days when I could see his cruelty.  Some days I wondered if he was mad at me.  One day he took me out to he barn and made me go up in the loft with him.  He told me some story about a casket that was up there.  He said it was for me.  It was scary to look at it.  It was a dark red, sort of like dried blood.  I didn't like it and I wanted to get down.  He kept telling me that it was mine.  I knew it wasn't.  But he wouldn't let me down from the loft if I wouldn't touch it.  I was so afraid that he'd leave me alone.  I hate to be by myself.  I feel helpless without him around.  So I touched it.  As I touched it, some owl came flying at us spraying us with green stuff.  I don't remember how we got down, but I remember clinging to him as he carried me to the house.  I was terrified he'd leave me again.  It was hard for me to finally let go of him.

In Cry, the Beloved Country, how do the conditions of the hills of Natal contrast with the conditions of the valley below?

The contrast between the hills, where Jarvis lives at High Place, and the valley, where Stephen lives in Ndotsheni, is both stark and symbolic. The hills are lush and green, well nourished and watered naturally by life-giving rains. Here Jarvis lives, surrounded by bounty, a white man of wealth and power. Stephen's valley, however, is dry and barren. No rains replenish the earth; no crops can be grown. The land cannot support Stephen's people, and the young must leave their homes. Thus, "the tribe is broken," and the poverty of Ndotsheni is exchanged for the poverty of Johannesburg. The lushness of Jarvis' hills and the barren state of Stephen's valley symbolize the great divisions in South Africa: economic, cultural, and racial.

How is marijuana used for health purposes?

There are three types of marijuana, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica and Cannabis ruderensis.  Marijuana was the most used medicine in history until the 1930s, when it was replaced by aspirin (after Beyer Pharmaceuticals discovered an inexpensive way to mass produce aspirin).  It is currently used most often as an anti-nausea treatment with chemotherapy for cancers and hepatic problems.  A multi-year research program in Great Britain by the Lancet (journal of the British Medical Association) has proven near-miraculous results with muscular paralysis patients.  It has been used successfully as a treatment for problems with the kidneys, the liver and the lungs.  Research indicates it slows or stops the growth of most lung cancers.  There has been a great deal of medical research in Britain, Germany, Spain and India, and it has been shown to be an effective treatment for Hepatitis C.  A 1997 survey of multiple sclerosis patients by Doctors Pertwee, Cosroe and others found that patients who smoked marijuana found significant relief for symptoms ranging from spasticity to anorexia, fatigue, balance problems, bowel problems and memory loss.

Although it does cause temporary problems (while "stoned") with short-term memory, neurological research has shown that long-term use of marijuana causes a massive increase in neurons in the pre-frontal lobe of the brain, where long-term memory, higher mathematical skills, and higher brain functions such as ordination and pattern analysis occur.  This does not prove it will make you smarter, but it will certainly not make you dumber.  Unfortunately, the artificial versions of the cannibinoids and higher THC isomers simply do not work nearly as well in clinical trials as the real thing.

The only real negative is that, after smoking a joint, heavy exercise is slightly more stressful on the heart than after a cigarette.  On the other hand, the marijuana effect goes away after 45 minutes, while the cigarette effect takes 48 hours to dissipate.  Wearing underwear causes a lower sperm count than smoking "pot."  There is no credible scientific evidence which indicates marijuana causes mental problems, although if you tend toward such getting stoned on anything is a bad idea.

The link below should help you find out more.  There are better sites, but some advocate smoking marijuana, which is illegal at the moment in the US.

How did Daisy and Mr. Gatsby meet?

With autobiographical overtones to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby comes from another part of the country to Camp Taylor near St. Louis, Missouri. While stationed there he met Daisy when he joined other officers who went to her luxurious house.

Amazed by her house and wealth, Jay Gatsby took Daisy under false pretenses because he led her to believe that he, too, came from a wealthy family. Nevertheless, "he felt married to her, that was all." He sacrificed his visionary dream to material acquisition as he was so impressed by Daisy's wealth. In Chapter Eight, Gatsby tells Nick,

"Well, there I was, way off my ambitions, getting deeper in love every minute, and all of a sudden I didn't care. What was the use of doing great things if I could have a better time telling her what I was going to do?"

It was then that Daisy became Gatsby's "grail." Thenceforth, all that he did was designed for the attainment of this grail. Having led her to believe that he was wealthy, Gatsby set out to become rich. Five years later, his dream reduced to material gain, Gatsby returns to recapture Daisy. but, while he has been gone, she has found a substitute for Gatsby in Tom Buchanan, who has proposed with a $350,000 pearl necklace. Now, he must re-win Daisy.

What is the difference between metaphor and allegory in William Golding's Lord of the Flies?

Metaphor and allegory, as the answer above indicates, are similar; both of them make comparisons, but the primary difference between them is the depth of the comparison. William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a highly symbolic novel, and he uses both metaphor and allegory to make his point. 

One of the most recognizable metaphors Golding uses in the novel is the beast. While the term beast is used to name many actual things in the story (such as creeping vines, pigs, a parachutist), Simon recognizes the truth that they are the beast. Golding is comparing what the boys have become--out-of-control savages who have no restraints or authority which they must obey--to beasts. In his conversation with the pig's head known as Lord of the Flies, Simon discovers this truth:

“Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!” said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter. “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?”

That is the metaphor: the beast is them. 

Golding's use of metaphor on a larger scale becomes an allegory. These proper English schoolboys, who do know how to live in a civilized manner and obey rules, are deposited on an island on which there are no adults. The only rules they have are those they make for themselves, but those are soon ignored or broken. They live without any restraints and they eventually become what Golding calls "savages." They destroy and they kill, things they would never do in their "real" worlds.

What these boys (and remember, they really are just children) do and become over the course of the novel is a picture of unchecked human nature. Their transformation from boy to savage is the allegory Golding uses to make this point.

How can love effect man's judgement in "A Rose for Emily" ?

It appears from the beginning that Emily's father is very controlling.  However, it can be looked at as if he loves her so much that he truly believes that no one is good enough for his daughter.  This fatherly love affects her life and completely changes who she becomes because he dies, leaving her nothing, and without any man to take care of her.  His love for her clouded his judgement and she was left alone to suffer (and go crazy).

Homer, on the other hand, should have seen the signs. But she drew him in, and he fell for her.  When he was out of town, she purchased the arsenic and he could do nothing about it.  She had it planned in her mind that he'd never leave her.  He never should have told her that.  He could have easily just used her and left.  Instead, love clouded his vision as well, and he wasn't able to see her insanity.

What is the significance of Simon losing consciousness after the Lord of the Flies has spoken to him?

Simon is epileptic: the first thing that happens to him in the whole novel is that he falls to the floor in a fit:

“He’s always throwing a faint,”said Merridew. “He did in Gib.; and Addis; and at matins over the precentor.”

Golding shows us Simon's symptoms one by one as he hallucinates that the Lord of the Flies is talking to him. So in this quote, his head tilts backward, his eyes fix, and he shakes:

Simon’s head was tilted slightly up. His eyes could not break away and the Lord of the Flies hung in space before him.
“What are you doing out here all alone? Aren’t you afraid of me?”
Simon shook.

Then, Golding gives us the definite clue - that one of Simon's "times", one of his epileptic fits, was coming on:

Simon’s head wobbled. His eyes were half closed as though he were imitating the obscene thing on the stick. He knew that one of his times was coming on. The Lord of the Flies was expanding like a balloon.

Then the metaphor becomes clear. Simon is devoured by a "vast mouth", of an imaginary beast, but that mouth is a blackness, a darkness. It is, of course, no beast, but the "darkness of man's heart" which b rings about the fear and savagery on the island. Simon will indeed be devoured by it, when he comes down from the mountain.

Simon found he was looking into a vast mouth. There was blackness within, a blackness that spread.
“—Or else,” said the Lord of the Flies, “we shall do you? See? Jack and Roger and Maurice and Robert and Bill and Piggy and Ralph. Do you.
See?”
Simon was inside the mouth. He fell down and lost consciousness.

Simply - it's because he has epilepsy. Yet, figuratively, it is also a foreshadowing of Simon's eventual death at the hands of his friends.

ABC is a right triangle whose hypotenuse is BC, and AD is the altitude from A on BC. Find: 1. triangle ABC: triangle DAC 2. triangle ABC: triangle DBA

I'm not completely sure what your question is asking, but the following information should be helpful.

You know triangle ABC is a right triangle, and that angle A is the right angle (since it is opposite the hypotenuse BC). You also know that angle C is 60 degrees. So ABC is a 30-60-90 triangle (the sum of the angles has to be 180, and 180 - (90 + 60) = 30).

Since AD is the altitude from A to BC, you know by definition that the angles on either side of the altitude are right angles.

Now, let's look at the smaller triangles.

ADC is a right angle triangle (angle D of that triangle is one of the right angles made by the altitude AD). You also know angle C is 60 degrees. Again, then, this is a 30-60-90 triangle.

You can do the same analysis for small triangle DBA. D is a right angle, B is a 30 degree angle (see paragraph 2 above), and so again we have a 30-60-90 triangle.

One of the rules of similarity is that if 2 angles of a triangle are equal to 2 angles of another triangle, the triangles are similar.

ABC is similar to ADC because the right angles and angle C of both are equal. ABC is similar to DAB because the right angles and angle B of both are equal.